Fiona Harper – The Ballerina Bride

A book in the Once Upon a Kiss... series, published January 1, 2012.
Genre: category romance / contemporary romance
Cover: nice, and it is the last scene in the book, only the hero was not dressed in a tux, and the theater was full.



Prima ballerina Allegra has spent her life on stage. But now there are whispers that the superstar's lost her sparkle... So when she's offered a week on a tropical island, for survival expert Finn McLeod's TV show, she leaps at it!
Finn's frankly unimpressed - how will this fragile-looking girl survive life in the wild? But for Allegra, it's not the island that's the problem, but her all-consuming crush on the unavailable Finn! Gorgeous on TV, close up he's devastating - and Allegra's hours of disciplined dance practice are useless when it comes to resisting temptation....


Allegra has been training to be a ballerina like her famous mother since she was 10 years old. She was one of the youngest prima ballerina’s ever, and her critics have been waiting to see her fail ever since. Thinking her talent is only short term. And now, with her performance in the new ballet about the Little Mermaid, they say she is technically perfect but her dancing is soulless. Allegra doesn’t know what to do anymore. Is she only dancing because her father wants her to fill her mother’s footsteps? Does she really love to dance? Or is it a way to get his approval? She hasn’t known anything else.
But now with this harsh critic, and the choreographer who wants more emotion from her, when she has nothing more to give, she wants to leave it all behind. Lucky for her, she overheard a message on her father’s answering machine. A chance to be a celebrity guest on Finn McLeod’s survival TV show, and now she has had enough, and she jumps at the chance. She has always had a crush on Finn McLeod, and loved to watch his TV shows about surviving in the wilderness, any kind of wilderness. Of course, living in London that is useless information for her, but still, she loves watching him. And so the next day she finds herself on a flight to a little deserted island for a week, with Fearless Finn himself and a camera crew. The crew will go back by boat to the mainland and into a comfortable hotel, but Finn and Allegra will stay on the island, surviving the weather and living from the land and the sea. With even a night camera keeping an eye on them. As their stay starts with a major storm, keeping the camera man on the island with them, the first order of business is making a shelter from the rain big enough for the three of them. Although Allegra hasn’t a clue of what to do, she is very good at following orders and Finn’s examples. And when she does not once complain about the lack of comforts or the hard work, Finn’s reluctantly starts to admire her. She might not make such a bad replacement for the sports star he should have hosted this week after all.

The days are filled with gathering food and firewood, and improving on their shelter, and exploring the island. Finn keeps giving survival tips, and he even makes Allegra eat a horrible tasting little grub. But she does it, and it pleased with herself. Being alone at night though, makes them both open up and grow closer. The real Finn is so much more than the one she has only seen on TV, and Allegra’s infatuation quickly grows into much more. But she knows she has only this one week and after that, it will be all over. And Finn is engaged to be married, right?

But Finn is no longer engage, his girlfriend found someone else to marry and love, someone to put down roots for. Finn doesn’t really understand that, for him life is all about the next adventure, the next spectacular view and sunrise. He does not intend to ever settle down, and grow roots. As an army brat, he is used to moving every so many months, and never to make really close friends, as he would only lose them again. But after his week with Allegra, something is missing from his adventures, the adrenaline kick is gone. He just misses seeing it all through her eyes.


I really liked this book. Allegra sure grows a lot in this story. She is more resilient than she thought she was, and she manages to survive on her own. She also finds out that she really does love to dance, and she actually misses it. But will she still have a career when she gets back? After all, she did kind of run away from it all.
And then there is Fearless Finn, handsome, rugged and able to survive everywhere on the planet. And we all know, men like that will fall hard when they finally fall. Allegra sure did not like how he proposed to his first fiancée, so he will have to be romantic this time ...

If you want a nice in-between-read, I certainly recommend this little jewel. I liked Allegra, I could feel how she was fed up with being lived, instead of living her own life. Being pushed into directions she did not know she wanted to go. And Finn, he finally discovered that some people are worth putting down roots for.

8 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian